Out of Character for a Day
by Kumagoro Meowzaki 2
Summary: Somebody decides to be OOC for a day. Guess who.


AUTHOR'S NOTES: Got wacky and decided to kick Rukawa's icy butt and give him a makeover. Mwahahahahahahahahahaha! And don't you dare complain about OOC-ness because it is the core of this silly fic. Duh.  
  
DISCLAIMER: I'm not claiming Slam Dunk or K-san from Gravitation as mine so bugger off if you're planning to sue me and/or rip my head off for ruining Rukawa!   
  
Out of Character For a Day  
  
By Kumagoro Meowzaki  
  
Sleep, eat, basketball, sleep.  
  
These were the things that made up Rukawa's routine.  
  
And for the first time in the sixteen years of his life, Rukawa Kaede, the Official IceMan of Kanagawa, was bored.  
  
Yes, he was bored as bored can be. Not that he wasn't already looking bored.  
  
Halfway through a plate of carrot sticks, Rukawa decided that being an IceMan was getting tiring and boring already. Maybe, just maybe, even just for a day...he could play something else. Then if he was satisfied with it, he could continue playing that role for a little while longer. And if he went tired with it...he could just pretend he had been possessed by some demon, drop the role and go back to being his old cold self again.  
  
For the first time ever, Rukawa thought being OOC sounded really feasible. And fun.  
  
Since when did 'fun' enter his vocabulary?  
  
"Ohayo, minna!"   
  
The crowds were parting to make way for a tall, pale figure they thought was Rukawa Kaede. No, scratch that, they were highly doubting it was Rukawa and were seriously considering the idea of it being an alien of a sort impersonting their god. People cringed as he passed them, and a good lot gaped at him with mouths full of drool.  
  
For one thing, 'Rukawa' was waving at everyone he knew and smiling like he was a model for a toothpaste commercial (now that I think of it, he could've been one if he smiled more). He had a cap on backwards and he was practically dancing as he walked. He was licking a lollipop in between smiles and whistling as he made his way towards the Shohoku gym. But he still had the slightly unruly hair, the foxy blue eyes (only now they were sparkling with mirth)--yes he looked the same.   
  
"YO! OHAYO!"  
  
thud  
  
Instantly, all jaws dropped at the sight of this 'Rukawa', who had enthusiastically popped into the gym so suddenly, and who was now waving and smiling at everyone present. Needless to say, their first (and only) reaction was shock and it was not replaced by any other emotion.  
  
Sakuragi cocked his head and poked Rukawa. "Kitsune? Is that you?"  
  
Rukawa laughed. "Of course it's me Sakuragi!" He caught Sakuragi in a headlock and was laughing madly, close to Sakuragi's tensai laugh.  
  
Miyagi sighed. "Alright, Rukawa, what did you do last night?"  
  
Mitsui smirked. "I think the question should be 'Who did you do last night?'"  
  
Rukawa blushed and smiled shyly. "Maa, Mitsui-sempai, you shouldn't say things like that!"  
  
Suddenly, a strange cocking sound was heard and a smooth voice flowed into Rukawa's (and everyone's) ears. "Who are you, and what have you done with Rukawa-kun?"   
  
"Ehe?"  
  
K-san pressed his Magnum harder against Rukawa's head. "Show yourself, imposter!"  
  
A drop of sweat ran down their heads. "Anou...K-san...you're in the wrong anime," said Kogure cautiously.  
  
The blond American raised an eyebrow as realization dawned on him. The sound of a chopper hovering overhead was heard and the gym roof opened up. Everyone gaped as K-san cackled evilly and jumped into the helicopter and was gone before anyone could figure out his real name.  
  
"OOOOOOOKKKKKK, let's begin practice now! Yoshi, minna!" yelled Rukawa happily, himself skipping to the locker rooms to change.   
  
"Woohoo! Way to go, Sakuragi! I loooooooove this game!!!" squealed Rukawa, tightly hugging Sakuragi (who was currently struggling like mad against Rukawa's hold. Honestly, Rukawa's strange behavior freaked him out and a part of him missed the old Rukawa he loved to quarrel with.).  
  
"Temeee, Kitsune, hanashite! I can't breathe! Tasukete!" roared the redhead, turning a little pale from Rukawa's tight hold. The said boy was obliviously smiling and laughing and ignoring Sakuragi.  
  
Fortunately, the whistle signaling the end of practice came and everyone slithered exhaustedly to the locker rooms, all except Rukawa who gaily strolled into them. He was singing this silly nonsense song called 'The Na-No-Da Song By Ryuichi Sakuma' that by far was better than Sakuragi's noisy and annoying Tensai Song. Rukawa sounded cute when he was singing that and practically everyone got mental giggles because of it.  
  
During practice, Rukawa and Sakuragi ended up on the same team, much to Sakuragi's dread. Although Rukawa was no worse than usual, he looked as if he didn't take it seriously, running abruptly into a formation to shoot, or making onomatopoeic expressions like "Wheeeeee!" or "Guru guru" or "Goro Goro" or "Kira kira" and whatnot. Rukawa also kept passing suddenly to Sakuragi which greatly surprised the redhead thus ending up with a ball in Sakuragi's face and/or Sakuragi twitching on the floor. Rukawa would then apologize furiously and pull the power forward up, but Sakuragi would throw the fox on the floor.  
  
"I don't need your help, cold-blooded fox!" Sakuragi would say, then stomp off somewhere.  
  
"Hidoi!" Rukawa would reply and then he would stick out his tongue.  
  
But still, the game ended with Rukawa's team winning.   
  
Too bad Haruko was down with flu.  
  
History class has just ended and Iwakura-sensei, the History teacher walked dazedly out of the classroom of Class 1-10. Like all the other Shohoku people, whether student or teacher (or janitor or admin...), he noticed Rukawa's strange behavior.   
  
He even thought that it was an extremely genki twin of Rukawa Kaede.  
  
The 'Rukawa' had not been sleeping in his class--that was what caught his attention. 'Rukawa' listened and participated actively in class, something the teachers thought would happen only at the end of the world. He gave satisfactory, if not intelligent, answers to his questions. And the boy was polite! Polite, for Pete's sake!  
  
This was not Rukawa Kaede. If it was, he didn't like it.  
  
Rukawa ate lunch joyfully but alone in the Shohoku gym, watching Sakuragi with his lunchtime training. Sakuragi was more than a bit distracted by Rukawa's songs that he threw the fox the basketball more than a few times. Rukawa deftly avoided them, thus annoying the other boy further.  
  
"Urusai, kitsune!" Sakuragi bellowed when Rukawa belted out an especially loud line of an Asian Kungfu Generation song. "I'm trying to concentrate here!"  
  
Rukawa smiled.  
  
Sakuragi was DEEPLY ANNOYED. He stomped towards the obliviously singing boy, grasped both sides of his head and gave him a nice, extra-hard headbutt.  
  
And out went Rukawa.  
  
Wow. So OOC.  
  
Sakuragi sulked home alone. He hadn't had a proper after-school practice because that stupid fox decided to just pop his stupid smiling face everytime he had a clear shot. And it was annoying to hear all those Rukawa fangirls cheering for him and wasting their drool on that...stupid fox.  
  
And what was actually smiled and talked and waved to them!  
  
Who does he think he is, some celebrity?   
  
Though he hated to admit it, he missed the old Rukawa. He missed the stoic, bragging, eternally-sleepy asshole that was once Rukawa. He missed the kicks in the gut, the glare, the punches, the sarcastic remarks, the monosyllabic replies, the hit-and-run incidents. He even missed hearing the 'do ahou'! It's like an endearment!   
  
He definitely didn't like this Rukawa. This Rukawa looked like an exaggerated, non-lemon-eating version of Sendoh.  
  
"ARGH! KITSUNE, SHOW YOURSELF AND I'LL KICK YOUR STUPID, COLD-BLOODED ASS!"  
  
Rukawa slammed the front door of his house, dropped his bags, dropped his smile, dropped his clothes and ran straight to the bathroom.  
  
He was definitely not gonna be OOC anymore.  
  
Sakuragi Germs, Girl Bacteria, and all sorts of Disgusting Microorganisms clung to all parts of his body. His muscles hurt from all the smiling and the waving. His throat was dry from all the talking. And his head was throbbing from lack of sleep.  
  
And the worst part was...Sakuragi missed him!  
  
EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW!!!!!  
  
A nice cold shower always did the trick. And antibacterial soap. And extra-hard scrubbing.   
  
Aaaah.  
  
He got out of the shower, feeling absolutely refreshed.  
  
There was nothing to be bored about being Rukawa Kaede, the Official IceMan of Kanagawa, he decided. It was less painful, less annoying and waaaaaay more hygienic. If he could, he'd definitely yell, "I LOVE BEING RUKAWA KAEDE!".  
  
But that would be OOC, wouldn't it?  
  
THE NEXT DAY  
  
Rukawa entered the gym with his usual scowl.   
  
Everyone was silent.  
  
Everyone waited for him to say something, but it didn't come.  
  
"Ohayo, Rukawa-kun!" Haruko greeted. Again she was ignored.   
  
Sakuragi edged slowly and poked Rukawa. It was answered with a glare from the fox.  
  
"YOU'RE BACK, KITSUNEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" exclaimed Sakuragi, hugging Rukawa absent-mindedly.  
  
Panic hormones in Rukawa immediately reacted and instructed his arms to punch the face of the filthy monkey who was currently clinging onto his freshly-bathed self.  
  
"Temeeeeeee, Kitsune!"  
  
Everyone smiled. Yep, Rukawa's back.  
  
OWARI 


End file.
